State Duma deputies planning to make statement condemning ICTY's refusal of Mladic's treatment in Russia
MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax) - The State Duma's group for the protection of Christian values is preparing a statement condemning actions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which refused to release Ratko Mladic, former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, temporary to undergo treatment in Russia.
"Unfortunately, we had a negative experience, when in a similar situation Russia had voiced willingness to bring ex-Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic for treatment to Moscow providing all guarantees, for the purpose of undergoing a surgery. Milosevic told us that he had been actually poisoned, that a wrong medicine had been administered to him. We had voiced this information following a contact with him, and Milosevic died literally a week later. The situation is now repeating with Mladic. It prompts us to make a statement regarding the ICTY in The Hague," deputy Denis Sablin, the group's coordinator, told Interfax on Wednesday.
"The tribunal in the The Hague tries only Orthodox Christians, but war crimes are committed by representatives of all parties," Sablin said.
"We are not aware of a single case, when a Muslim, who had committed barbaric acts against the Christian population, was convicted," the lawmaker said.
"Such an attitude, when they disregard universal values, won't release [a person] for treatment on the security of Russia, shows that the tribunal in The Hague is a system of murdering undesirable political leaders among others," Sablin said.
State Duma deputy Pavel Dorokhin, who is heading the Russian Public Committee Defending Gen. Mladic, suggested issuing a statement condemning actions of the ICTY at a meeting of the group on Wednesday
Mladic is currently in the ICTY's prison. He was captured in Serbia in 2011 and extradited to The Hague, where the ICTY is carrying out a trial on changes of committing war crimes during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1995.
During the conflict, Mladic served as the commander of the Bosnian Serbs' army. The ICTY charged the general with crimes against humanity, breaches of laws and rules of warfare, such as ethnic cleansing and terror attacks against civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, he is accused of conducting an operation in Bosnia's Srebrenica, where, according to an official version, several thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed in July 1995.
On May 16, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is concerned about the health of Mladic, whose appeal for a temporary release for treatment in Russia was dismissed by the ICTY's Trial Chamber.
"The ICTY Trial Chamber is fully responsible for the adopted decision and consequences of its conclusions showing yet another fact of disregard for such fundamental rights as the right to life, healthcare and medical treatment," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary of the ICTY's ruling.
"The refusal to hand the Serb over for treatment is indicative of justice in The Hague. The ICTY has previously agreed to release defendants temporary for less compelling reasons, and this is why the ICTY's ruling and its reasoning cause nothing but bafflement," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.